ALORAIR 113 Pints Crawlspace Dehumidifier for Commercial, Sentinel HD55

Our crawlspace has always had a musty, damp smell and I could tell moisture was building up down there. Tried a little home unit before and it was a joke, filled up every few hours and I got tired of crawling in to dump the tank. This one drains on its own so I just set it and forget it. Got it running and within a couple days the humidity dropped way down. The smell is basically gone now. I like that there's no tank at all, the auto drain is the whole reason I went with it. The metal casing feels solid, not flimsy plastic, and the handle actually makes it easy to move around. Set the humidity level I wanted and it just holds it. The auto defrost thing kicks in when it gets cold and does its own cycle without me doing anything, which is nice for the winter months. One small thing, it's not silent. You'll hear it running if you're nearby, but down in the crawlspace it doesn't bother anyone. Overall really happy with it. Does exactly what I needed and the long warranty gives me some peace of mind.

I have a shallow/short crawl space (think 22'-24' inches max height) under a 1950's single story ranch home in Texas. I was on the fence about which route to go to address moisture but ended up at partial encapsulation and adding (this) dehumidifier. I say partial because I haven't insulated the walls yet and holy moly this has been a labor intensive journey that I was not willing to pay $15-$20K for. The labor is where the cost is at and this has tested my resolve. I went with this one(HD55) because there was no condensate pump which seem to fail well before the units do based on hours of reading reviews. In March I paid right at $500 after taxes (I've seen the price jump a bit now). I've added a VCMA-15 Little Giant stand alone pump that feeds into my HVAC condensate drain line, about a 9 foot run which has given me no issues and which adds more reliability. I've added a water alarm in the pan I keep the pump in and the dehumidifier sits about 8 inches above to gravity feed into the pump. I ran a dedicated 20A duplex outlet into my space to feed the unit and pump. I have two Govee smart plugs that connect to wifi and tell me the energy use of each and that I can remotely control in the event of failure. I have a tight opening that I didn't care to enlarge at 12 ¼ x 16 inches, this unit fit perfectly through it. It's absolutely miserable to crawl into and work down there but man, the savings and feeling of doing it yourself (clearly I don't value my time). But again, I'm not paying 5 figures on something I can do, I'll spend it elsewhere. My original crawl was a dirt floor and 5 foundation/perimeter vents with a decimated 6 mil barrier covering about 25% of the floor. That had the humidity at 99% in the crawl space in the summer and not too much better in the winter. I was getting ridiculously high humidity inside the house and the wood moisture readings from the joists were unacceptable. Building science has changed significantly since my home was built, yours too. It was due time to address the moisture. This unit became a necessity. I added a perimeter drain in my backyard (you need to address where the water is coming from first). I sealed the vents, I laid down a 10 mil vapor barrier and wrapped all of the 25 pillars (miserable work). After sealing up about 95% and leaving room along the walls for insulation I added this (the HD55). After letting it run for 3 days the humidity is now at 56% (i have the unit set at 50%) and it has run the entire time (which I completely understand and don't fault it for doing so). I have the humidity monitored by wifi Govee sensors that I placed down there 6 months ago, they're more accurate than the unit's internal humidistat but within an acceptable margin. This unit has been a workhorse so far. I am hesitant to give it five stars off the bat and leave y'all feeling like this is the best because of the other reviews regarding longevity but it has been a five-star experience in the time I've owned it. I've relied on the reviews others have left here so it's only fair to do my part. I will update this accordingly. I have'nt finalized the placement yet. I have it in a central location without the ducting (be aware the manufacturer specifies only 6 foot of ducting may be added), so I've held off thus far and it seems convectively fine where it is at it's current angle. Given the headroom I have I was initially going to mount it with 3/8 threaded rod with horizontal brackets that accept all thread but for now I have it 8-9 inches up on a leveled stack of insulation board I cut to fit the width/length of the unit, there are zero stability concerns and it sits plum level. If you are here I'd imagine you are facing high humidity somewhere in your home and you are going to do the DIY route - I admire that and have chosen the same. That said - would an April air unit have performed better, probably but not by much. But they have their limitations too and suffer all of the same reliability issues, probably at less frequency but I couldn't justify the $1,700 upfront cost. I may reevaluate my stance on that after the peak of this summer or the next. But for now, this unit has proven to be more than capable of a tight/shallow 1,600 foot crawl space at removing gallons of water in the air. Quite amazing when I think about it more. Would I like more features and an included remote, of course. But the $100 they charge for the remote is absolute bull 5hi7. A smart plug and wifi hygrometer is the same and less expensive. But at this price point, I am pleasantly happy, so far. The unit seems well put together and fits into my opening. It is a slight hum that you'll barely hear above and soon not notice at all. Best of luck on your moisture removal journey. Ultimately, if I pay hundreds for anything, I expect it to last - you and this company will hear about it if it doesn't. But so far I am content and imagine you will be too. I just checked on the unit and didn't bring my phone down to take pics but I'll upload some later of the actual unit. I did add the "results" from the hygrometer and a pic to show you the constraints. Regarding efficiency I've uploaded a pic from the smart plug showing the electrical use - it'll end up being about $20 a month if it works as much as it does daily (it won't have to maintain that usage 24/7) but I am showing you the peak. (Edit from 18 months later - ZERO problems and it's still humming along. I'm happy.

I have updated my review to 5 stars after working with Alorair’s customers service and getting my unit replaced under warranty. My original 1 star review was as follows: After going through lower cost dehumidifiers every one to two years, I decided to spend more and get the Alorair Sentinal HD55 which seemed like a more robust unit. The unit seems very well built. Now after two summers of use, the refrigeration system has a leak, and it is icing up and not working anymore. The company has been very responsive and offered to repair it for free, with me paying the shipping there and back (roughly $135 x 2 = $270), or get a different unit, probably a repaired one, for $350. Two years ago, I bought it for $467 which figures out to $233.50/year. Instead, I bought a small Media for $211. It has been working great, is extremely quiet, and uses approximately half the electricity of the HD55. It is astounding to me that nobody seems to be able to make a dehumidifier that will last more than 1-3 years.

Purchased the HD55 in December, ran it for a week and it makes great Ice! My Shop is 1728sq ft, outside temp has been averaging 48°, inside shop temp is 55° since I prefer a cooler shop, the Humidity is at 72% since my Wal-Mart no name 70 pint dehumidifier died. It lasted 3 years then quit working, but kept my shop at 45-51% humidity without issue. I decided to invest in a commercial model and chose the HD55 since it was at a sale price, advertised to pull 113 ppd and 5 yr warranty. I am sooooo disapointed in its performance as a dehumidifier it is beyond words! The main complaint for me (and many others from the reviews) is that the evaporator coils ice up constantly and it goes into auto defrost more than it dehumidifies. Once this happens it doesn't pull moisture, although Aloair claims this is normal and part of the operation. This is partly true, but when it ices up so much that you cannot pull out the filter to access the evaporator coil, I got to believe this is NOT supposed to happen to this extreme. After running for a week, the best the HD55 "Commercial" unit can maintain is 54% humidity!!!!! So I am either going to return it and go back to a no name 70ppd Wal-Mart unit or keep it and buy a smaller dehumidifier to work in tandem since this Commercial rated Chinese model doesn't perform near what it is rated for. Oh, for the good old days of made in USA products, you could buy with confidence! My suggestion is to just buy the cheap "non commercial" Dehumidifier since they are all made in China too! Too bad, really wanted to love this unit and have years of trouble free performance. Hope this review helps others to make a decision. Should Adorair contact me to replace this unit and make this customer happy, I will consider updating my review to reflect any change in experience, but from reading other reviews Adorair lacks in Customer service, so I doubt that will happen. UPDATE - Aloair offered me a refund and would provide me a prepaid shipping label and offered an apology. They also offered to send me a new Controller Board and Humidstat if I was willing to open the unit and install the parts myself (Aloair sent NO installation instructions). I am handy mechanically so I opted to give this a try. Don't try this yourself if you are not mechanically inclined as there is a VERY large Capacitor just above the Controller Board and it holds a high energy charge to kick start the Compressor and can cause a nasty shock if you are not careful!! After installing the parts, the unit does not grow ice over the filter and coils as it did when I originally got it. The performance did not change and does not get the humidity below 54%. It does not perform any better IMO than a non commercial 70ppd department store Dehumidifier. I added another star on my rating because my experience with Aloair customer service was above average and they responded quickly to my messages. Not sure if the Compressor is made by GREER or not, but be aware Greer makes many components for Chinese made Dehumidifiers and they are in the process of a lawsuit for faulty units that overheat, catch fire and have killed several people. Don't take my word on it and do an Internet search and educate yourself on the lawsuit. Also be aware the HD55 ( Powder Blue colored unit) is NOT Energy Star certified and will use more electricity in operation. The HD55s (White colored unit) IS Energy Star certified and will be kinder on your pocketbook! Although they are very expensive, the Aprilair units are made in the USA and I suspect may be better performing units, not sure if they use Chinese parts in the construction or not, so do a little research before buying ANY Dehumidifier! Hope this review helps others as the Dehumidifier market is rabid with false performance and elaborate marketing claims aimed to confuse potential buyers. The manufacturers like to use the Dept of Energy 2015 specs (No longer valid) and like to advertise the saturation specs for 95% humidity (Higher ppd per day numbers) instead of the current AHAM rating at 65% humidity (Average humidity in USA) which is more accurate and "curiously" is half the ppd numbers of 95% saturation. This done to confuse buyers but is NOT considered false advertising!! Buyer beware! UPDATE: The Alorair dehumidifier has been running 24-7 since my purchase and still occasionally forms a sheet of Ice blocking the radiator and has to be shut down for a few hours to clear the ice. But, I must say it is still working after all this time AND running 24-7, so as far as longevity goes it is still doing its job........most of the time. I am upgrading to 4 stars to be fair and Alorair did reach out me and sent a replacement controller (Didn't fix issue) and offered a refund of the unit during the course of ownership.

Update: This was a powerful dehumidifier for my small rv for 3 summers, then it got less powerful. It used to easily take the humidity to under 40% but was now struggling to hold 50%, and not cycling. It was on all the time. As stated in my original review, customer service sent me a new sensor and main board. Looked good at first, but ultimately didn't help. In the 2-1/2 months it took for this (not their fault - I was busy) the unit degraded significantly more and now can barely hold 60%. It was not an electronics problem. There used to be a tiny stream of water coming out of it when new and now it's a drop every 3 seconds. My conclusion (and theirs also) was a loss of refrigerant. A leak. Very likely leaking since it was originally charged. It has been well handled, kept level at all times during deployment, handling, and storage, left for 24 hours before turning on after moving, and doesn't have a scratch on it. As others have noted, they said I could ship it to them and they would repair it free, but I have to pay shipping both ways. At 44 pounds this is quite an expense at consumer rates. Otherwise, I could buy a new one from them for $450. No way. The replacement will leak after 3 seasons and I don't want to pay $150/summer for dehumidifying my rv when it's parked (I use a small heater the other 3 seasons). I feel sorry for the company as they really tried in good faith to help me fix it, but the product is no good. It leaks. Any sealed heat transfer system that leaks so soon without being abused is junk. I have a 40 year old refrigerator which has been handled roughly (in the shop) that still runs perfectly and has been running every day of those 40 years. The one in my home is 25 years old, still running perfectly. Buy at your own peril. I'm going to replace it with a cheap Walmart unit, and perhaps someday I'll address the plumbing on this thing in the future. I may be able to bring it back to life and have it recharged (if the charge ports are compatible). My advice - either get a cheapo unit and plan on replacement, or spend a couple hundred more for a known quality unit, preferably one not made in China. Original review: I use this to keep the moisture down in my rv. I live in the pacific northwest and during the non winter seasons it can get humid. It rains a lot here. Before I deployed this unit my rv would get moldy inside in a matter of a few weeks. One time I found an inch of white mold on my steering wheel. Yuk! After spending a lot of effort (and a lot of white vinegar) getting rid of the mold I bought this and there has been no problem since. It's much better than a house unit because it can discharge water out a hose to the outside. Compared to what this is made for, my application is light duty. After 3 years the humidity no longer matched my humidity gauge. It was off by 15%. Customer service helped me trouble shoot the problem, which turned out to be the humidity sensor. They sent me a new one free, but it turned out to be incompatible as it was a newer design and it gave an error code of E1. When I reported that, they scrounged an old design sensor and sent me that, as well as a new main board to match the new sensor. Free. Although the manual doesn't contain the error codes or much in the way of trouble shooting, they have quite a library of utube videos for reference. Combine those with TOP NOTCH customer service and I would not hesitate to buy this unit again. Replacing modules and filters is very easy requiring only a screwdriver and needle nose pliers. I highly recommend.

I bought this unit after my basement flooded during some summer storms. The unit is sturdy, and feels very industrial in quality. After flood cutting my walls, I turned this on, and within days, everything was bone dry. The setup and control were easy, and the unit is compact and easy to store. I hope I don't need to use it again, but I feel more comfortable having it on my shelf.

I encapsulated our crawl space years ago and put in a dehumidifier afterwards. That dehumidifier died a little over a year ago, so I replaced it with this one. Easy set up and ran nicely right out of the box. I purchased the optional remote for it which is really nice. Now I can just go into our laundry room and see what the humidity and temperature at any time. The humidity was at 77% when I turned it on and after about an hour it was down to 52%. This should do wonders for the musty smell down there.

I have updated my review to reflect the positive communications I had with Alorair. I have always appreciated the equipment, which I find to be excellent. I initially had some non-technical support issues, but they have been successfully cleared up. During the whole process, my equipment has been running very well. My unit is is my sealed crawlspace and keeps the humidity in the low 50's% range, where I want it. Bottom line- unit is top-notch, with a great warranty.